


Be (As You've Always Been)

by stardropsapphic



Series: If You Give A Little [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Emotional Constipation, Friends to Lovers, Ignores everything past ep. 479, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slight Naruto/Sasuke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-01-24 04:28:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18563917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardropsapphic/pseuds/stardropsapphic
Summary: Naruto is in love, but when has anything in his life ever been as simple as that?





	1. Won't You Be

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in the same universe as my InoSaku piece "Longing Floats Around You", but can be read separately. (Though strongly recommended for future chapters and potential future fics.)

            It was hard for Naruto to think of the exact moment when he had fallen in love with Gaara.

Was it when Sasori and Deidara attacked, when they almost killed him? Was it after the Kage Summit, when he questioned everything he’d otherwise believed? Or no, was it when he joined the fray, when they’d fought side by side against the forces that sought to undo their work, their world?

            He supposed it didn’t matter, one way or the other. What did matter was that he was mostly hopeless when it came to romantic love.

            That week and a half laying in a hospital bed gave Naruto a lot of time to think—too much, if he was being honest. But he supposed that was only natural when he’d came face to face with a god, the end of the world as he knew it, and the worst injuries he’d sustained in his entire time as a shinobi.

            Sakura _tsked_ under her breath as she looked as his chart.

            “That bad, huh?” he asked. “Here I thought I was on the road to recovery.”

            “You’re damn well lucky you’re not dead, you idiot,” she huffed, though didn’t knock him over the head like she clearly wanted to. “Sustaining this much damage after having to undergo a cardiac massage isn’t doing you any favors—miraculous intervention by a sage or not. Your stitches should be able to come out next week, but I can’t guarantee anything when it comes to your right arm. Ino and I were able to preserve most of the nerve endings during first aid but I won’t know if you’ll have full control and feeling until Hashirama’s cells are grafted.”

            “How long d’you think that’ll take?”

            His teammate sighed, setting down the clipboard. “I can’t say for sure. Another month, maybe two? Arms don’t grow on trees.”

            Naruto thought for a moment. “And the one for Sasuke?”

            That made Sakura pause for a second longer than it should’ve. “I… I don’t know, exactly,” she murmured sadly. “I think that depends on how much longer the intel corps keeps him. They have their own medical unit keeping an eye on him, so I don’t have any information on how he’s recovering. If I find anything out, though, you’ll be the first to know.”

            Naruto’s hand clenched the white sheet.

            There came a knock at the door, and it slid open to reveal one of the nurses. “Excuse me,” she said quietly, “but you have a visitor.”

            She slid the door slid open further, and in walked Gaara. He was without his usual gourd and an expression of worry was written all over his face.

            Sakura glanced between the two, then shook her head with a knowing smile. “I’ll be back tomorrow with any updates.”

            The nurse left with Sakura, and then it was just the two of them.

            “How’re you feeling?” Gaara asked, sitting in the chair next to the bed. “You had me… _everyone_ worried.”

            _You don’t have to hide from me like that,_ Naruto thought absently. _You never have._

            “Good and getting better,” he said with a smile. “The doctors want me to start physical therapy tomorrow but I should be fine, ya know? No way these little injuries are gonna keep me away from missions for too long!”

            The other boy shook his head, but smiled in that way of his. Naruto’s heart sped up in glee, which unfortunately registered on the monitor beside him. Gaara’s smile widened just slightly.

            They were both silent for a few moments before Naruto, in all his brilliance, blurted, “D’you wanna take a walk? I-it’s a nice day out…”

            Gaara’s head tilted in confusion and, maybe, a kind of amusement. “Are you even allowed to leave?”

            Naruto swung his legs out from underneath the covers, grabbing hold of the IV and heart monitor he had the misfortune of being attached to then. “What Sakura doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” he said easily with a shrug. “Besides, we’re shinobi! It’ll be hard to catch us if they don’t see, ya know.”

            He shook his head again, but stood with Naruto to walk out of the door.

            He moved slower than usual, but he didn’t mind. He’d take every minute he could next to Gaara’s warm presence.

            As they moved cautiously through the hall toward the exit that led to the garden, Naruto thought, for a mere half second, that Gaara’s fingers brushed against his. But as soon as he thought they were there, they were gone again.

            They sat side by side on the bench, and Naruto stared up at the tree branches. The leaves were slowly falling away from the branches, bracing for the winter to come. But slowly, ever so slowly, his gaze drifted back to Gaara who—for all intents and purposes—appeared not to have noticed his staring.

            He really did look handsome in the afternoon, with the sun on his pale face and lighting up the space around him. Was that the hint of a blush on his cheeks or the remnants of the harsh sun of his village?

            “Naruto?”

            He shook his head a little bit, dazed. “Y-yeah?”

            “Officially I’m here on behalf of my village to thank you,” the Kazekage said quietly, eyes shifting between him and his hand on the bench between them. “Everything you’ve done is beyond our power to repay, but you have my word that the Sand will stand beside the Leaf so long as I’m here.”

            “Uh…” Naruto mumbled. “You… you don’t have to make such a big deal, ya know? I only—”

            “But I have ulterior motives as well,” Gaara continued. He turned to look at Naruto, pale blue eyes piercing. “Naruto, I…”

            He paused, glancing at his feet and chuckling. “I’ve never been that good at expressing my feelings, even after all you did for me.” He met his gaze once again. “But I wanted to tell you that I’m relieved you’re still standing at the end of it all. When… when they pulled Kurama from you and Sakura more than lost you, I…”

            Naruto could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen his fellow jinchuriki so out of his element—and even then it had never been so obvious.. Without even stopping to think about it—because how often did he ever think things through?—he reached out and placed his hand over Gaara’s. His skin was warm, and he could feel the callouses from the years of hard training. “You… you don’t have to say more, Gaara,” he whispered, fingers tightening over the other’s instinctively. “I know exactly what that feels like.”

            Gaara’s eyes flickered for a moment to their hands, then back up to meet Naruto’s. Had that blush returned to his pale cheeks, or was his mind playing tricks?

Not for the first time, they were on the same page—whether that was because they were both jinchuriki or if his feelings weren’t totally one-sided, Naruto didn’t know.

 

* * *

 

            Naruto slowly recovered over the next two and a half months, and the funerals for all those who died in the war slowly passed. He was allowed to leave the hospital and return to his apartment during that time, but training was still mostly off the table under orders from Kakashi, Tsunade, and especially Sakura.

            In general, time seemed to pass slower than usual.

            One evening, while Naruto studied from one of the dozens of books Iruka-sensei had given him for his jonin training, there came a loud pounding at the door.

            He raised an eyebrow, glancing from the clock back to the hall leading to his front door. It wasn’t so late, but still odd.

            “One second,” he called, hoping they would hear him through the walls.

            He hurried—relatively fast for his state, since a wound on his leg had been stubborn to heal—to the door, the person on the other side still furiously pounding at it. He opened the door just as Sakura took another swing at the worn wood, unfortunately knocking him over the head in the process.

            “Ow!” he cried, holding his head in his hand. “I told you to wait a second, ya know!”

            Sakura seemed unfazed by him, but there was an urgent expression on her face. She still wore her white lab coat from the hospital and her brow was covered in sweat. “Sasuke just got released!” she gasped.

            Naruto blinked in momentary confusion, wondering if the blow had somehow messed with his hearing. “W-what?”

            “I just found out from Lady Tsunade!” she continued, breathing heavily. “I told you I’d pass anything on if I found out, so I ran all the way over here so you’d hear it from me before anyone else got the chance.”

            Naruto swore under his breath, grabbing for his shoes. “You’re serious?!” he asked, shoving them on as fast as he could in his current state.

            “Lord Sixth and Lady Tsunade were in a meeting all day with the other Kage,” she said. “Apparently the Raikage disagreed with your testimony based on what he did to Bee, but Kakashi-sensei took the fall as his teacher and asked for a pardon. It turned into an even bigger argument, but they all outvoted the Raikage in the end.”

            Naruto almost tripped at twice in the span of ten seconds trying to get his right shoe on. He swore again, but as soon as he got it on he slammed the door shut. “D’you know where he is now?” _I’d use Sage Mode but I’m sure she’d kill me for it…_

            “They probably just got the orders, so not far from headquarters.” Sakura’s brow creased in worry. “What’re you gonna do? At least think it through before you act, Naruto!”

            He thought about that expression on Sasuke’s face in the Final Valley and all that he said, of all those years he’d waited to see and hear them but now felt too little too late in the wake of the realization of his feelings for a certain Kazekage. All of those things were full of more meaning than he could ever explain to Sakura in the span of a breath. “There’s something… well, something I have to tell him. Something important.”

            “Naruto…” Sakura murmured, halfway to reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder.

            But he already went sprinting—or a general approximation—off into the night.

            If he was being honest, he knew exactly where he was going to find Sasuke without resorting to his sensory abilities.

            _Sitting at the dock, alone. Always alone._ Like him.

            Naruto’s intuition was right. He found Sasuke near the old Uchiha district, that same lake, with the same unreadable expression.

            He didn’t even bother to approach quietly, instead opting to all but barrel into his former (was it former, still?) teammate. “They finally let you go.”

            “Hello to you too, Naruto,” Sasuke said quietly. They had given him new clothes after his were destroyed similarly to Naruto’s in the fight. He turned and looked back at Naruto, rinnegan piercing.

            Suddenly the words dried up in Naruto’s mouth. “Uh…”

            Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow in that way of his.

            He took several deep breaths, trying his best to make sense of the fragments running amok in his head. “I… I needed to talk to you.”

            “Funny,” Sasuke drawled. “Because I had things I needed to discuss with you as well.”

            He shook his head as though to clear the fog away. “What’re you planning on doing now that you’re free?”

            “Honestly, I don’t know the specifics,” he replied. “I think… I think that I might leave. I want to know what the world is without that blindfold, to know how… how you see things.”

            Naruto’s heart lurched. “And your place here?”

            “Someday I’ll return for good, Naruto.” Slowly his hand reached out from under his cloak, taking Naruto’s own. He didn’t have the heart or the guts to move. “That’s a certainty, as long as you’re here.”

            _Oh._

“Sasuke… look, I know what you were saying in that… that dream. There’s no more uncertainty. You know how I felt—how I _always_ felt.”

            “Then you should know my true feelings as well.” He squeezed his fingers. “Naruto, I—”

            “That isn’t it,” the blond murmured. “You also know… that it’s not the same. It hasn’t been for a long time. I may love you but it isn’t that simple. I… I don’t think I can keep waiting and waiting anymore, like I did all those years.”

            He saw how Sasuke’s eyebrows pulled together and he could all but read the ninja’s thoughts. “Then why chase after me all that time?” he asked, an edge to his voice. “Why keep chasing our bond? Naruto, I… You know as much as I do that I love you. You don’t have to wait so long anymore.”

            Sasuke didn’t wait for Naruto’s answer, instead letting go of his hand and gripping his hair. In a moment that was more impulsive than he had ever seen the other boy be, Sasuke pulled him forward and pressed his lips against Naruto’s.

            _Oh, Sasuke,_ he thought, lips unmoving and heart painfully heaving.

            He slowly reached up and took Sasuke’s hand once again, pulling away. He wanted nothing more than to never see that pained expression on Sasuke’s face again. “Sasuke… there was a time when I’d have given anything to hear you say that…” His voice faltered as the tears began to build. “But, after everything, we’ve both changed and grown up. It’s like I said, I may still love you but it isn’t the same. It can’t be. I chased and chased and chased, but by doing that I learned a lot about myself. And I’m sure you saw that in the dream. You know I can’t anymore because… because there’s someone else…”

            It wasn’t the first time he’d seen Sasuke cry, not by a long shot. But it was the time that felt most like a kunai to his chest. “I… I see. Have you told him yet?”

            Naruto chuckled sadly, the noise wet in his throat, though he knew deep down it might’ve hurt Sasuke more. “I keep trying, and so does he. I’m sure we’ll get it out sooner or later. We jinchuriki can be hard to crack.”

            Sasuke’s fingers automatically squeezed his, reminding him their hands were still entwined. “You have a way with people, Naruto,” he murmured. “I’m sure you’ll manage sooner than you think.”

            The tears pricked at his eyes, hot in the night air. “I think you will too, Sasuke,” he said. “I’m sure that there’s someone who will always be able to walk at your side, ya know. With that blindfold gone maybe you’ll find out you’ve already met them and just don’t know it yet.”

            Sasuke managed what looked vaguely like a smile. “Your confidence is inspiring,” he said with a hint of a chuckle. “But I’d like to think you’re right.”

            “You’ll be alright without me or Sakura to get you out of trouble?”

            “Somehow, Naruto,” he said with a roll of his eyes, “I think I’ll get by.”

 

* * *

 

            They met again two days later, outside the gates of Konoha. Sakura and Kakashi watched off in the distance, but Naruto didn’t mind them seeing this particular goodbye.

            _This is the last time Team 7 will be together for a long time,_ he thought sadly

            Sasuke raised an eyebrow, clearly wondering why he was there when all had already been laid out.

            Naruto reached out to his oldest friend, the cloth he held well-warn beneath his fingers.

            Sasuke looked down and saw the headband, eyes widening but then expression rapidly softening into something Naruto would almost call nostalgic—even tender. “You kept this old thing?”

            “You’re a shinobi of the Leaf,” he said simply. “I knew one day you were gonna need it back.”

            Sasuke smiled then, and their hands met briefly as he took the headband.


	2. We Knew One Thing

            Naruto found he had an unfortunate habit of proving Sasuke wrong.

            That “sooner” Sasuke had warned him about quickly devolved into months—several of them. Months he spent shaking off the last of his injuries, returning to something that would otherwise be considered normal (for him), and generally trying not to act as though journalists and admirers dogged his every footstep in the village. A large portion of those months gave him time to acclimate to the arm Tsunade had grafted, to relearn how to move his fingers after the nerves healed and began to work as though nothing had physically happened to him in the first place.

            That period also gave him a lot of time to think—more so than when he’d been at the hospital. To think about all the things he’d wished he’d said when he’d seen Gaara last, to think about what Gaara had meant to say, and what Gaara’s lack of communication since then both meant and didn’t mean all at once.

            It was during one of his routine checkups at the hospital that he found himself thinking—and when he was left to his thoughts, he found he had an unfortunate habit of digging the hole already forming in his heart even deeper.

            Sakura, who’d just finished testing the reflexes in his new limb, regarded him with a raised eyebrow. “Is something the matter?”

            Naruto jerked as he looked up at her. “Uh…”

            She shook her head. “You’re really bad at hiding things for a shinobi.”

            He laughed quietly, but his heart wasn’t quite in it.

            Sakura tugged her stethoscope away from her neck and set it down, her usual knowing smile creeping across her face. “I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re thinking a little too hard for your own good.” She leaned against the countertop opposite the examination table. “Tell me.”

            Naruto felt his cheeks heat half in embarrassment from being so obvious and half from the idea of confessing his crush to his teammate. He looked down at his hands resting on his knees.

            “You know I can’t disclose anything you say in this room, right?” she continued softly. “Whatever you say is just between us.”

            He bit his lip. “I know it’s just… complicated.”

            It was Sakura’s turn to laugh. “More complicated than anything we’ve dealt with previously?”

            He thought about it for a moment. “Seems like it from where I’m standing.”

            Her green eyes softened. “Is it Sasuke?”

            “Not this time around.”

            “Naruto…” she murmured, though her voice had an undercurrent of warning.

            He huffed in annoyance. “Alright, alright…” He took a breath to steady himself. “I’m… I’m in love with someone. I think they know but I can’t be sure, and I haven’t heard from them in a while so I’ve been wondering if I’m making it all up in my head.”

            Sakura was quiet, biting at her lip as she thought, and Naruto squirmed in discomfort from the silence.

            “I sincerely doubt you are making this up, Naruto,” she finally said. “You’re one of the few people I’ve met who could always get someone to see eye to eye no matter what. If they haven’t said anything, it could be that they’re nervous just like you are.”

            “Yeah, you’re probably right.” Though it did little to fill that hole he’d steadily worked at in his heart.

            Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder. “And if they don’t, consider this a promise from me to knock some sense into them.”

            He looked up, and Sakura winked. He found himself smiling despite it all.

            “Thanks, Sakura,” he murmured.

            “C’mon, let me walk you out,” she said. “You’re my last appointment for the night and I’ve got an early start tomorrow for a mission.”

            He nodded and they walked into the bleach-smelling halls of the hospital.

            “They still have you running missions on top of all your appointments?” he found himself asking, shoving his hands into his pockets out of habit as they walked.

            “A lot of chunin are pulling double duty right now,” Sakura replied. “Especially medical ninja, between the amount of injured we still have and the need for supplies.”

            They paused at Sakura’s office.

            “Let me just drop off my coat.” She went to open the door and gasped.

            “What’s up?” Naruto asked, peeking over her shoulder.

            On her desk was a bouquet of white flowers with yellow centers held together with string.

            Sakura rushed over to her desk, tossing her coat over her chair, before scooping up the flowers. An obvious blush was on her cheeks.

            He found himself grinning. “Secret admirer, huh?”

            Sakura looked thoroughly embarrassed at his comment. “Shush you.”

            As she shut the door, flowers still in hand, he leaned over to look at the sweet-smelling blooms. “Any idea who they’re from?”

            She cast a glare. “I said shush.”

            “How long have you been getting them?”

            He didn’t miss the tiny smile or the tender way she looked at the bouquet. “Not long. This is only the second time.” In a half-second she turned to look at him, eyes blazing. “If you tell anyone, Naruto, I swear—”

            He held his hands up, half babbling assurances and half laughing, glad that he at least still had one of his oldest friends there to keep him grounded despite it all.

 

* * *

 

About a month later Naruto found himself on a mission that took him through the Land of Wind, accompanied by Tenten and Lee since none of them were any longer part of a team of three.

Halfway to the border between the nations they were met by a shinobi wearing the headband of the Sand.

He knelt and held out a scroll. “A message from the Kazekage,” he said simply.

            Naruto exchanged a look with the other two, who merely shrugged in response. He looked back to the Sand shinobi and took the scroll from his hand. The shinobi didn’t bother to stand before launching back into the treetops to return to his village.

            His heart raced. _From the Kazekage…_

            Naruto opened the scroll and read through it quickly, almost too fast for his eyes to catch everything and so he read it a second time.

            **_Naruto, you and your team are welcome to stay at the Kazekage’s estate for the duration of your stay in Suna. I look forward to catching up after so many months since I saw you last._**

            His heart rate picked up further. _I’m looking forward to catching up, too, Gaara._

            “Keep us waiting,” Tenten joked, a hand on her hip. “Not like we’re on a time-sensitive mission or anything.”

            Naruto rolled the scroll back up sheepishly. “Sorry…Gaara just wanted to let us know beforehand that we’re welcome to stay at the Kazekage’s estate while we’re there.”

            “How wonderful!” Lee cried, punching the air. Tenten already had her head in her hand from his overenthusiasm. “It is good to know that we have the bonds of friendship that extend beyond nations! I say we race to the Sand with all the passion of youth so we no longer keep Gaara waiting!”

            Naruto shook his head and laughed. “Sure, Lee. Though we might be a bit behind you.”

            _Maybe Sakura was right…_

* * *

 

            Thanks to Lee’s breakneck pace, they arrived in the Sand a few hours ahead of schedule. They were met at the gates by Temari and Kankuro.

            The two siblings nodded as they walked up. “Good to see you made it here unscathed,” Temari said.

            “All things considered it was a pretty uneventful trip,” Tenten replied easily.

            Naruto peeked around the two. _I wonder if Gaara is coming…?_

            Kankuro seemed to notice his distraction immediately. “Gaara is currently being held hostage by the village council,” he said with the hint of a laugh. “But we can show you to the estate so you can get settled for the night and be back on the road by morning.”

            That little balloon of hope that had already swelled in Naruto’s chest quickly began to deflate. If Kakashi’s never ending stream of meetings was anything to go by, Gaara wouldn’t be able to catch up like he wanted before the team had to leave. “Oh…” Naruto picked his head up, trying not to let the Sand siblings see—or know—his disappointment. “Well, it’s alright! I’m sure he has a lot of important work and we wouldn’t want to keep him from that, ya know!”

            Kankuro exchanged a look with Temari, a painted eyebrow raising in an expression Naruto couldn’t place. But neither said anything more, instead leading the three Leaf shinobi through the village—one that was expanding as rapidly as the Leaf, if the construction was anything to go by—to the Kazekage’s estate.

            By the time they managed to wade through the growing crowd, all eager to see Naruto’s entrance, and were shown their rooms it was already late evening. Tenten and Lee had left soon after to explore the grounds, as well as to look for a place to eat somewhere else in the village. Which left Naruto alone.

            Alone, but still with his thoughts.

            _But what else is new?_

            Sitting on the edge of his bed, he stared out the window at the village and tried his hardest _not_ to think about the red-haired Kazekage and that flush on his cheeks that may or may not have been real.

            But self-control had never been one of Naruto’s strengths, and soon his mind wandered  to their conversation in the hospital garden. _“When they pulled Kurama from you and Sakura more than lost you I”… “I” what? Should I have asked what he meant instead of just letting it go?_

He frowned. _Now I probably won’t get that answer. And he’s probably forgotten about it already…_

            Naruto flopped onto his back with a huff and scrubbed the bandaged hand down his face. “Man, I really am hopeless.”

            Wanting to take his mind off his ever-growing disappointment but not wanting to drag Lee and Tenten down with his moping, he decided to explore the estate on his own.

            As he walked through the halls, hands stuffed in his pockets in a defeated stance, he soon found himself utterly lost. The last time he’d been there he hadn’t been without some form of guide—whether it was Temari, Chiyo, or another Sand shinobi—so his lack of direction had never been a problem

            Eventually, though, he found himself outside the estate. A shaded walkway encircled a courtyard of sand, which almost glittered under the moon. _Funny how beautiful this place is despite being in the middle of the desert. I didn’t really have the chance to appreciate it last time…_

            He stood there, staring up at the cloudless sky, and soon he lost track of time.

            Eventually he heard footsteps approach.

            Naruto turned his head and half choked on air when he saw it was Gaara.

            His hair had gotten longer in the almost-year since they’d last seen each other. It stuck out at odd angles like his own, but he thought the red made it look so much more beautiful. He felt his cheeks heat from how the moonlight cast shades of silver in it.

            “G-Gaara!”

            “Naruto,” he replied in kind, the hint of a smile creeping across his face ever so slowly. “It’s good to see you again.”

            “Yeah, y-you too…” Naruto rubbed at the back of his neck, wishing he could get the blush to stop spreading across his face. “What’re you doing out here? I thought Kankuro said you were in a meeting.”

            That soured his expression a little. “By all rights I should be. But when I.. _explained_ to the council that we had Leaf shinobi amongst us as guests for the evening they eventually relented.”

            Naruto laughed despite the clear annoyance of the other boy. “That sure was nice of them to let you leave, ya know. I’m not exactly sure where Lee and Tenten are right now but we can go looking for them if you want to catch up!”

            Gaara shook his head in bemusement. “It’s alright, I’m certain they’re busy. Besides, I’ve been wanting to speak to you for quite some time.”

            He felt his blush deepen all the more. _Play it cool, play it cool!_ “M-me?”

            “Yes.” Gaara looked down at his feet as he moved ever so slightly closer, almost a like he was at a loss. “You see, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I really wanted to say that day at the hospital.”

            Naruto was sure he was moments from death by the way his heart hammered in his chest, like it couldn’t keep up with everything. “Y-you have?” _He remembered…_

            He nodded in his solemn way. “Yes. You see I… I-I…” He paused and took a breath. “After everything that happened with the Ten-tails… No, even before that—when I was revived and there you were again—I knew what it felt like to have someone precious to me. And I knew that I no longer had to worry about that pain I’d felt for so long—that pain you took away when we were children. Because you see, Naruto, I… well, to put it simply, I love you. And it has taken me a long time to be able to say it in so many words.”

            Naruto sucked in air quickly in shock, almost choking as he did so. His whole body was trembling and his brain was working overtime to take in everything Gaara was saying. _He… he loves me…_

            He must’ve been silent for too long, because Gaara’s eyes filled with worry. “I don’t know if I’ve been mistaking it, but… but that day, when you took my hand, I thought that maybe you felt the same.”

            He thought he might combust on the spot. “You… you didn’t. Never. I really do feel the same.” He let out a breathy laugh. “Jeez, I’m really an idiot. This whole time I was worried I was making it all up, too.”

            The way Gaara’s eyes lit up sent Naruto’s already hammering heart into overdrive.

            “I thought for sure you’d forgotten about that day, but then you sent that letter on the way here. I… I hoped that it wasn’t all in my head and now… Now I really can say it.” His feet unconsciously shuffled, and he moved closer to the other boy—close enough that he felt the flutter of his breath on his cheeks. “I love you, too, Gaara.”

            Their eyes didn’t break contact. He couldn’t have said for the life of him who made the first move, but suddenly Naruto’s lips were on Gaara’s. His non-bandaged hand slowly reached up to cup his cheek, and he felt warmth spread through him despite the chill of the night. The thin skin of his lips was much softer than Naruto had assumed in his head.

            When they eventually broke apart Naruto couldn’t help but laugh. “We’re idiots,” he joked.

            “Maybe,” Gaara hummed. “But happy ones.”

            He couldn’t stop the wide, stupid grin spreading across his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got around to updating!
> 
> The semester is finally over so I've had time to publish this thank god. It also took a little longer because I had to do some serious editing on this particular chapter since the original version felt too rushed and didn't sit very well with me. (I also felt it needed more of a tie-in to my InoSaku piece as part of a larger canon fix-it I'm attempting.)
> 
> Thank you for all your kind words both on the last chapter and this one! They mean the world to me! <3

**Author's Note:**

> I have the next chapter almost completely written, and there might be one more after that depending how I feel about the pacing. So expect that soon!


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